When Veterinarian Jim Briggs thinks homeless people act and live like stray dogs—a horrible thought—I needed another character to voice the unthinkable. Why not a voice in his head? The voice I chose is one side of his conscience—the dark side.
The good half thinks positive, uplifting thoughts, and is optimistic. The dark or negative half is like an ebb tide pulling him away from his good side. Therein lives the diabolical DIME to voice the darkest of Briggs’ thoughts.
I named him DIME (Devil in My Ear) and gave him dialogue like your would any character.The name is corny. But that’s the fun of fiction writing.
Is Briggs crazy? I asked a personal friend, who is a former administrator of three psychiatric hospitals. Briggs is not mentally ill, he said. He is not hearing voices that don’t exist. He is just wrestling with his own thoughts. Don’t we all have a little darkness in us?